[Whitigir]

It is more like grainy in sound rather than the black background. But the reason why I hesitate to claim that it is worse because it could very well be me. More distortion sometimes can be mistaken as more detailed and vice versa sometimes more detailed can be mistaken as more noisy. On top of this there is also the burn in disclaimer at boot by Sony themselves that should be taken into account.
I find the bass of the 1AM2 is much less than the 1Z at least in quantity which gives the impression of brighter. Admittedly I was really turned off within the first 5' trying the 1AM2 so I stopped and switched to the 1ZM2 instead. A fairer comparison is I'll spend sometimes getting used to the sound of my 1A then come back later to compare. But I tried the 1A mk 1 out of the box this morning and it didn't give me the experience like 1AM2 yesterday. The grainy sound I heard yesterday is not there. I used the same SD card content for testing.

So does the 1ZM2 also have this graininess in comparison to 1Z ?

 

[hoofman]

So does the 1ZM2 also have this graininess in comparison to 1Z ?

I had only a short quality time with the 1ZM2 because I accidently listened to it with direct sound off and dsd remastering on and only noticed that half way. By then it is a bit late because there were others also waiting for me to try it so I couldn't concentrate much. But with direct sound on, it sounds much cleaner. There were still some concern about it from the back of my mind but at least I recognized that it is a walkman 1Z kind of sound. My concern with 1ZM2 is different from 1AM2. If there is a difference between 1Z and 1ZM2, it is not that obvious to my ears like the 1A and 1Z, or the 1Z and 1AM2 or the 1AM2 and the 1ZM2.

 

[Whitigir]

I had only a short quality time with the 1ZM2 because I accidently listened to it with direct sound off and dsd remastering on and only noticed that half way. By then it is a bit late because there were others also waiting for me to try it so I couldn't concentrate much. But with direct sound on, it sounds much cleaner. There were still some concern about it from the back of my mind but at least I recognized that it is a walkman 1Z kind of sound. My concern with 1ZM2 is different from 1AM2. If there is a difference between 1Z and 1ZM2, it is not that obvious to my ears like the 1A and 1Z, or the 1Z and 1AM2 or the 1AM2 and the 1ZM2.

Well, the DSD remastering is different. May be the circuit isn’t broken in, or may be there are different elements of how Sony is implementing it. The FPGA can act either as the 1 bit end DAC alone on the receiving end or also the processing of modulations as well (aka 1bit DAC by itself)….could also be that the modulating and processing front ends are done by the Android SOC, if the FPGA is only 1 bit receiver ends to pass through the signals toward the amplifications. Due to it being class D amplifications, there will be additional stages of PWM needed by the S-Master as well.

Please tell me more about direct sound on. Was it possible to direct sound on while DSD remastering ? Or is it possible to either be on or off with DSD remastering ?

 

[Redcarmoose]

I’m retiring with my Walkmans.

 

[hoofman]

Please tell me more about direct sound on. Was it possible to direct sound on while DSD remastering ? Or is it possible to either be on or off with DSD remastering ?

From what I remember I switched DSD off, and then I switched direct sound on. When did that I don't remember seeing the DSD option any more so I think it is not possible to have DSD remastering with direct sound on.

 

[hoofman]

I’m retiring with my Walkmans.

3000 music is a lot

 

[Redcarmoose]

3000 music is a lot

Ya, it’s got a flashlight too, for going down stairways after 7 beers!

 

[Whitigir]

According to this block, if Sonybisnt hiding anything away. Then the FPGA is meant as a custom DAC by itself and the S-Master is class D amplifications. I don’t think the S-Master does any further PWM processing, but rather taking up this 1bit end from the FPGA and amplify it.

If this is accurate then the Walkman has 2 separate modes, which is why I was asking about direct sources modes. Also, this indicates that this S-Master is a new one, may not be a totally new generation, but it has to be improved as it is able to receive 1bit stream, where as previously, it couldn’t….but then…unless Sony is hiding something else, I don’t see how the last Gen S-Master could receive 1 bit stream this way.

A/ the digital to analog conversions by FPGA based DAC functions

B/ the digital to analog conversions by S-Master direct PWM and amplifications

The A feature would be the newest features l, and since it is FPGA based, I would want to know what kinda chipset are being used, and the processing power behind it. Let’s start with how much is the play time under DSD remastering and balanced output mode ?

 

[hoofman]

The A feature would be the newest features l, and since it is FPGA based, I would want to know what kinda chipset are being used, and the processing power behind it. Let’s start with how much is the play time under DSD remastering and balanced output mode ?

I couldn't test the battery consumption but I noticed that with screen on the battery was dropping very fast. I think I tried it for about 15-20' and it dropped from ~70% to 62% so I suspect the 30-40 hours claim was with screen off most of the time.

 

[Whitigir]

From what I remember I switched DSD off, and then I switched direct sound on. When did that I don't remember seeing the DSD option any more so I think it is not possible to have DSD remastering with direct sound on.

So, this means that direct sounds mode is really the literal meaning of Sony design. They literally takes up the channeling of informations without applying any DSP, and rather just raw algorithms modulations, and send it straight up in multi bits toward PWM which is then rawly amplified and output from it Class D amp.

Without direct sound On, DSD remastering can now enjoy all kinds of different DSP including resampling/upsampling, vinyl engine effects, DSEEHX ultimate ….etc….etc… before processing by the FPGA. Please, if someone can verify this, whether you can apply all DSP with DSD remastering or not

2 very unique and dedicated mode for digital musics. You are buying 1 Walkman, and you are enjoying 2 uniques ways of digital to analog conversions features. The Sony Direct Digital amplifications feature and the Sony DAC with FPGA based features … similar to Chord. By all means, once applying DSEEHX ultimate and FPGA processing, this is what Chord is doing. However, Sony in fact do have a much larger library in the waveforms of different pitches, instruments, amplitudes, and random generators algorithms perfected Vs Chord. In this front, Sony is still the pioneer of Digital Master stuff

 

[hoofman]

Without direct sound On, DSD remastering can now enjoy all kinds of different DSP including resampling/upsampling, vinyl engine effects, DSEEHX ultimate ….etc….etc… before processing by the FPGA. Please, if someone can verify this, whether you can apply all DSP with DSD remastering or not

@dennarwhal are you going to ConnectIT soon can you help us to verify this as well? I only focused on direct sound on so my memory about other stuff can be not very good.

 

[hoofman]

I saw this photo from Twitter posted by Hiroaki Sato with the inner board of the 2 new Walkmans.

@Whitigir you may be interested in this.

 

[dennarwhal]

@dennarwhal are you going to ConnectIT soon can you help us to verify this as well? I only focused on direct sound on so my memory about other stuff can be not very good.

Thanks for tagging me. I probably will go again soon. But as far as I can remember, Japanese technical notes mentioned that DSD remastering is only available from the W.Music App is not usable with other DSPs in the system or over bluetooth

 

[dennarwhal]

Thanks for tagging me. I probably will go again soon. But as far as I can remember, Japanese technical notes mentioned that DSD remastering is only available from the W.Music App is not usable with other DSPs in the system or over bluetooth

As mentioned in the asterisk portion, DSD Remastering is exclusively available in the W.Music app with wired connections.

 

[dennarwhal]